James Johnson scored only 5 pts, but grabbed 5 boards, blocked five shot, made 2-of-3 from the floor and sank a three. This is why he’s valuable. Skip the scoring. It’s not there. Won’t happen. Ignore it. Grab him anyway. Of all the secondary players that are still mostly available in fantasy leagues (>25 percent owned), Johnson is the player that really shouldn’t be unowned the most. And while that wasn’t my bestly constructed sentence, don’t allow it to cloud your judgment. Johnson has averaged 23 min./ 4 pts/ 4 rbds/ 2 ast/ 3 blks+stls. Not everyone can own LeBron and Durant and normally the end of most fantasy benches are filled with guys doing one or two things well. Johnson doesn’t do anything phenomenally, but he also will fill up the box score on most nights. Guys like that at the end of your bench are often the difference between first place and Mike Millerville. Scroll down and stare at the text until a rocket appears (joke’s on you. The Rockets didn’t play last night).

Psyche! (Do the kids still say “psyche?” ) Razzball’s got a sponsor! We’re dancin’ for the man now, kids! Click on the Daily Joust if your tolerance is up and non-money fantasy basketball just doesn’t boil your blood like it once used to; you just can’t get loose like you once did. This daily fantasy basketball site lets you choose a fantasy team compiled of players playing that day. The entry fee you pay determines the possible winnings you earn. Compile a better single-team roster than other contenders and there’s cash to be had. I dig it. If you dig it, click it. If not, please continue on with the post.

Dwyane Wade – He hinted at having plantar fasciitis – just a hint. He’s so coy. He’d never just come flat out and say he has foot aches. C’mon. All he’ll need is rest, but with most NBA teams playing three games a night from now until June, plantar fasciitis might as well be a missing eyeball. Time to find out if Wade can out-tough Kobe in the playing-through-excruciating-pain department. A department almost as depressing as the men’s suits section in Sears.

Tyler Hansbrough – First two assists of the season. What’s weirder: Psycho-T’s pair of assists tonight or Andrea Bargnani grabbing double-digit rebounds two games in a row? I’m going with Bargs. He had two double-doubles all last season and those games were three months apart.

Elton Brand – 6/5/1 and Sir Elton hasn’t scored more than 12 points in a game yet. Maybe his knee is acting up. Maybe age is catching up to him. Maybe it’s both. He’s like my uncle if my uncle had ever been good at something in the past.

Jrue Holiday – Cold again. For the fifth time in eight games, he’s doled out fewer than four assists. I’m not panicked. We’re still within the window of time a player would have been in preseason training in a normal season. If he’s still averaging fewer than five assists per game a month from now, then I’d put on mascara and begin crying so I get that creepy streaky-eyed thing that only the craziest of girls get.

Joakim Noah – 4/8/0, with 2 blocks. Noah didn’t take a single shot in this game. Still cold. Still startin’. It’s early. Chill.

Carlos Boozer – Shot 9-for-13 including six straight shots that barely ever touched the iron. He still stopped to scream unto the heavens while the rest of his team ran to the other end of the floor. It’s his thing. Like Aniston’s “Rachel” hairdo.

DeMar DeRozan – When we last met DeDe he had just finished sinking five threes on his way to 25 points. In the three games since, he’s shot .267 (8-for-30) and averaged 8.7 ppg. Quick! Everybody close your eyes and don’t look at DeRozan. If we pretend not to notice, he’ll go back to scoring 20+ points a game. That’s how Toronto do.

Vladimir Radmanovic – In for Marvin Williams. He sank a quartet of treys on his way to 14/6 in 39 minutes. Williams is out at least one more game, so it would behoove you to stream him. Everyone wants to be behooved. Except horses, because walking around becomes very painful.

DeShawn Stevenson – Was scratched from the lineup. MarShon Brooks took his place. If you owned Stevenson and Brooks is still available, you don’t need my help because you’re in a league all by yourself. As a side note, is it possible to see Brooks’ name without the mind’s eye seeing it as “Mar$hon?”

Tyrus Thomas – 6 pts/ 5 rbd / 1 blk in his first three games of the season. PREDICTION: At some point, in the next three games, he’s going to go off and everyone’s going to rush to pick him up and end up dropping someone more valuable than he is. Then he’s going to average this again for another three games. Then one more big game. Rinse, repeat. Barf.

Iman Shumpert – 16/6/4, with 3 steals as he slipped into the starting lineup. I’m-a just let that lie there for a second. Soak it in. Swish it around. Twirl it. Hold it by the stem. Sniff it. … Now drink.

Toney Douglas – “Well, that was fun.” – Douglas, on his seven-game tenure as the Knicks’ starting PG (2/1/0, in 13 minutes last night).

“then I put on mascara and begin crying so I get that creepy streaky-eyed thing that only the craziest of girls get.”

That is a writing highlight.

Seriously though ….Yahoo league , three keepers , yearly redraft . and here I am sitting on the #1 waiver pick ….patiently. when a 3 for 2 trade is announced and Rodney Stuckey is the player to the waiver wire . Then just to confuse me Kemba Walker also arrives via an add/drop….Stuckeys got to be the pick , I’m just being blinded by that new rookie chrome, aren’t I ??

‘m in a 14 team hdh keeper league. We keep 5. I was just offered Howard and Stephen Jackson for my Curry and Igoudala. Do I consider this deal? Curry’s ankles worry me. I figure ft% is pretty much a toss up every week. Also this trade will help upgrade my C position and give me 5 definite keepers. If not what would be a good counter offer? I was thinking either curry iggy for howard calderon or iggy McGee for Howard:

Shumpert, a damn MAN, that dude walks on the court a rookie but looks like a seasoned vet, he’s confident, i love him…. once he figures out when to take shots and they start falling a little more, wow.

What do you think about a Dorell Wright for Kaman trade? same dollar value $16 & $17 respectively, ones slumping/crap the others injury prone/etc….. I could slot Kaman into my C spot, then put amare in at Forward. I think Amare/kaman in my line up is better than Amare/Wright….. ?

@canned tuna: I like Markieff over Sessions, but I suppose it depends on your statistical need. Sessions will net you more dimes and steals. Markieff is a sneaky source of threes and blocks without getting killed in any other category.

@d2bnz: Hehe. Thanks. RE: Stuckey/Walker – it kind of depends, right? Are you considering burning your waiver pick for the purposes of this season or for the future? I tend to think Stuckey will be more valuable this season. I’m also not prepared to call Walker a bust, suggesting of course, that he will likely have value in other seasons. When in doubt, I always go with the known commodity. If Walker turns into the second coming of Fat Lever, so be it. 4 times out of 5, playing it safe works out for the best.

@Sarah Palin Rice: No. That’s too high a price for Ibaka. Holiday will turn it around.

@Ryan: You’re right to be completely ignoring Jax in this situation, as he will probably only serve to hurt your team in the future. If you know the guy wants Curry and Iggy, give it to him, but push for an improvement over Jackson; someone that gets assists. Reasonably, Howard/Kidd would do it for me. He might undervalue Rubio, whom I would want more than Kidd. That’s a long shot, but you can get the ball rolling with an offer of that type. You can get Howard and do better than Jackson.

@Tony: Word! It’s all I can do not to order myself this kid’s jersey. As far as Kaman for Wright, I don’t like it. I still feel Wright will figure it out (it really IS still early in the season, though I know it doesn’t feel like it) and the dollar differences aren’t enticing enough to sell me.

Part of the reason Bargnani gets these double-digit rebound nights is probably because Amir’s doing a good job boxing out the opponent’s best rebounder. He did a great job last night holding Kevin Love to ‘just’ 14 rebounds.

As long as Bargs and Amir are in the same lineup, we should see some decent rebounding games for him. It’s too bad there aren’t any stats on hustle, cuz Amir’s getting shafted and Andrea’s getting all the praise.

I have my eye on Jon Leuer, who is playing 16 minutes a game. He has a very good game and can shoot and rebound the ball. White for Charlotte is playing 26 minutes a game and has had some good games, not a star but could replace someone who is injured.

C’mon be fair on the pain comparison. Wade has to run/jump his 220lb frame on a bad wheel. Kobe just has to fight off the pain of moving his wrist with the extra weight of that “VERY HEAVY” 20oz ball he hoists up 200 times a game.

Just gotta give props to you for nailing the Iman Shumpert breakout back before the season even started… I remember reading a post or two you made about Shumpert and I literally had no idea who he was. I was left thinking “Who is this guy? Don’t they already have Landry Fields?”… I am so impressed I actually used the word “props”.

@Ryan: You could use Howard’s blocks and boards. But getting rid of Curry (a healthy Curry) kills your FT% (huge swing) and assist numbers. Basically, you’re trading one set of strengths and weaknesses for another, but you’ve got better help for Curry than you do for your bigs.

@Mike Scobey: Yeah, ride it while you can. His percentages and blocking numbers are way above his career averages. Smart money says we see a regression sooner or later.

@Migs: Sounds plausible, for sure. I haven’t watched much Raptors action so far this season. Not an accident.

@Sarah Palin Rice: You’re gonna have points for days and I love the Brooks pickup. If you’re still feeling itchy to tinker with your team, I’d dangle Brooks out to your league in a week or so and see what kind of interest you get. I expect him to see boom times in the next month.

@NLFantasyBB: Wade can run on the ball of his foot! Women in heels being chased down the street do it all the time! (To be fair, I’ve not suffered either injury and really have no idea how awful either actually are.)

@Adam: thanks on the kaman for wright, i actually proposed it, the guy rejected it….. he asked for scola and wright for kaman and Beno! hahaha… no dice… probly nothing happening if thats where we’re at…. Im worried about Wright in GS’s offense, but hey, he can’t be as bad as he’s been.

@HotRod: STAT has averaged a double-double in about 35 percent of his games. That works out to about 23 such instances this season (he’s got four already). I’m not sure how much a double-double is worth and if an estimated 19 more double-doubles is enough of a deal-breaker. All else being equal, with your roster, I’d rather have ‘Melo or Monta.

@Ryan: If you can get Howard for Curry straight up, I’d do it. If you can get Howard and a decent PG for Curry/Iggy I’d probably do that too. I would not do Howard/Jax for Curry/Iggy.

@Moses: I’m more interested in Speights’ upside than what Allen brings to the table. Not sure if you want to burn a No.1 waiver priority on it (I tend to think the priority is overrated, and if you want a guy you should go after them. A lot of people don’t feel that way). RE: Amir. If he makes a habit out of it, you’ll hear all about it. Promise.

@Ryan: If you’re going to offer up Curry, do it quickly as the Warriors are set to announce Curry’s status later this afternoon. You have to figure it’s either no news or bad news. They’re not going to come out and say, “His ankle is 100 percent and there’s no chance he’ll ever hurt it again. Oh, and also, he can now slow down time.” I like Howard/Kettle for Curry/JaVale, but I wouldn’t accept the offer if I were the other guy. Good luck!

@AL KOHOLIC: Personally, I went with Speights. Ed Davis is a good player and will put up a couple big games, but he won’t see his true potential til he gets more PT, so unless there’s an injury to someone like Bargnani, Amir Johnson, or James Johnson, he won’t have that opportunity. At least we know Speights should get big minutes for the next several weeks.

Im currently having a center crisis. Started Jason Maxiel last night, who had good run but absolutely shat the bed with 1-12 performance (probably shouldn’t expect this type of an atrocity every night). What are your thoughts as far as bottom of the barrelers go? giving you an idea oh who’s available I sorted available centers by minutes and these are the top 10: Perkins, Nick Collison, Troy Murphey, Tolliver, Asik, Ed Davis, Kwame, Darko, Tiago, and Larry Sanders. I’ll also throw in Ian Mahinmi cause he had a good game saturday.

10 team H2H league 9 cat, I want to punt assists, and been thinking of actually dropping Jack..I’m crazy right? I want delfino..or Dorrell Wright..who should I drop for one of these guys? I want to strengthen my 3’s

should i drop Speights (is he worth a roster spot in a 10 teamer?), Morris, or Jack (since im punting assists?) Would appreciate a hastly reply, before someone grabs delfino or wright ! Thanks a lot man.

To follow up my earlier post re: the center issue. Pretty much considering doing a center by committee thing for now. For tonight’s games I’m considering: Asik, Collison, Perkins, Ed Davis, and Mahinmi. Perkins did have 13 rebounds last night and seems to get the most consistent minutes out of them all. But in terms of matchups who do you think will grab the most boards tonight?

@AL KOHOLIC: Probably Speights in the short term and Davis by year’s end.

@Jeremy: Of the players you listed, Tiago and Davis stand out (Maxiell too, but you own him already). I’d look to those three guys before the others.

@Daniel: I never understand dropping a guy with value. Even if you don’t need Jack, SOMEONE will, right? Can’t you get someone better via trade than a guy floating in the FA pool? Even if you package Jack with another guy, I’m sure you can find someone worth more than Delfino. Speights is the guy to drop for Wright or Delfino.